Research

My current focus is on high-grade rocks and migmatites from the Adirondack Highlands of New York. My research projects have included the collisional processes of the Himalaya and gneiss domes of southern Tibet, coexisting pseudotachylyte and eclogite-facies shear zones in northern Norway, the tectonic evolution of the ultrahigh-pressure Qinling-Dabie-Sulu orogen in eastern China, and the tectonometamorphic history of subduction complexes in the Ural Mountains of Russia. I am a field geologist with research interests in geochronology, igneous and metamorphic petrology, structural geology and tectonics, and geochemistry.

Graduate Research Opportunities

I am looking for students interested in research involving hard-rock petrology, geo/thermochronology, geochemistry, and tectonics on topics related to large-scale orogenic processes. I also encourage students to apply with interests in microstructural deformation processes using EBSD as a tool and/or students with interests in mineralogy and thermodynamic modeling using programs like Perple_X or THERMOCALC. Preference will be given to students with previous field, laboratory, and/or computer modeling experience. Please contact me for more information or see the Earth & Climate Sciences Department website or the Graduate Studies web site for program details and admissions requirements.

Kelsey Kehoe (B.S. 2012)

Carla Rosa (B.S. 2011)

Textural analysis of rocks from the Karakoram shear zone, Ladakh, northwestern Indian Himalaya (Now an Engineering Geologist with the California Geological Survey)

Kevin Denton (B.S. 2010)

Paleomagnetic study of the Caetano intra-caldera tuff, Lander County, Nevada (co-advised with Jonathan Glen; now a geophysicist at the USGS)

Steve Dutra (B.S. 2010)

Thermobarometry and mineral chemistry of clinopyroxenes in eclogite-facies shear zones in the Lofoten Islands, Norway

Mae Marcaida (B.S. 2010)

Crystallization history of Black Point and Red Cones: Mafic eruptions of the Mono-Inyo volcanic chain, eastern California (co-advised with Margaret Mangan, U.S.G.S. Menlo Park; now in the PhD program at Stanford University)

NSF, 2010-2013, Upgrade of Electron Microscopy Facility to Increase Geoscience Functionality at San Francisco State University

NSF, 2008-2011, Acquisition of a FE-SEM to enhance research and student training in Biology, Chemistry, Geosciences, Physics, and Engineering at San Francisco State UniversityNSF, 2001-2005, Subduction and exhumation of ultrahigh-pressure rocks: Field and drilling studies in eastern ChinaNSF-AAAS, 2003-2004, Collaborative research on the petrotectonic evolution of the ultrahigh-pressure Tso Morari Crystallines, western Himalaya, India

The Himalaya and southern Tibet (graduate student** co-author)Leech, M.L. and Hassett, W.C.**, in review, Comparing three gneiss domes from the western and eastern Himalaya: The Leo Pargil, Renbu, and Yalashangbo domes, Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology